The pantry

What each thing is, and what it does to a bite. Nothing more.

Dried fruit

Dates

Soft and toffee-dark. We pit them by hand and blend them to a paste that binds everything else. The only sweetener in two of our four recipes.

Fig

Chosen still soft rather than leathery — a dry fig never softens again once it is in the mix. Jammy, with a fine grit from the seeds.

Nuts

Almond

Ground coarse for body, fine for richness. Getting that grind right is most of the work.

Cashew

Whole kernels, never broken pieces. The softest nut we use and the least assertive — it rounds out a mix without taking it over.

Walnut

Halved kernels. The one nut with a real bitter edge, and that edge is the point: dates and soft nuts alone turn cloying by the third bite.

Pistachio

Chopped, never ground. Grinding turns the green to a dull olive within a day.

Seeds

Lotus seed

Puffed, light and crisp, faintly like popcorn. It is why Nutty Bites are the largest of the four and still easy to eat.

Pumpkin seed

Dark green and hulled. Toasted just until they begin to pop.

Flax seed

We grind it on the day. Whole seed keeps for a year; ground flax turns stale within weeks.

Sunflower seed

The least glamorous thing here and one of the most useful. Mild, and reliably crunchy once toasted.

Sesame seed

Toasted in a dry pan until the seeds jump. Thirty seconds more and the whole batch is bitter.

Grains & pulses

Whole wheat

Slow-roasted in ghee for over twenty minutes, stirring, until the raw flour smell turns nutty. That roast is the whole recipe — there is no timer for it, you go by smell.

Roasted chickpeas

They arrive already roasted, so they grind to a fine, sandy flour. This is what gives Roasted Amber Bites their dry, crumbly texture.

Brown rice flakes

Folded in last, unbroken, for a light snap.

The larder

Palm jaggery

Made from palm sap, boiled down over a wood fire. Smokier and far less sharply sweet than cane sugar. We melt it to a syrup before it meets the flour.

Ghee

We clarify it ourselves from butter. The browned milk solids are where the nutty aroma comes from, and how far you take them is the difference between a good batch and a forgettable one. It is also why two of our recipes contain milk.

Fifteen ingredients, four recipes. Nothing here is chosen because it photographs well.